If you are a Filipino and interested in its culture and history, you must visit 4 of its most important ancient churches. These are the Miag-ao Church, Paoay Chursh, Santa Maria Church, and Saint Agustin Church.

Visiting all 4 of the Baroque Churches in the Philippines, which were also part of UNESCO Heritage Sites List is one of the things that I am proud of. These four churches were built by the Spanish in the late 16th century and their unique architectural style is of European Baroque, mastered by Chinese and Philippine craftsmen. Three of them are located in Luzon and one is in Visayas.

Miag-ao Church in Miag-ao, Iloilo

The Miag-ao Church was built by the Spanish Augustinian missionaries in Miag-ao, Iloilo in 1786. There are two notable frontages of this church: its two watchtowers and a large coconut tree at the center. The watchtowers were built to defend the town and people against the Muslims who invaded Christianized villages during the early times, while the coconut tree represents St. Christopher carrying Child Jesus on his shoulder referred as “tree of life,” which was according to folklore.

It was said that Miag-ao Church has the most interesting interior design of all 4 Baroque Churches in the Philippines because of its gold-plated retablos. Unfortunately, we were one of those who wasn’t able to see it as it was closed when we visited it.

During 1898, when Filipinos revolt against Spain, the church was destroyed. It was rebuilt; however, it was damaged heavily by fire and earthquake in 1910 and 1948.Read more…

Cape Bolinao Lighthouse is the one of the youngest lighthouses I’ve seen. It was built in 1900s by the Americans yet tough and firm.

The lighthouse was also featured in Angel Locsin and Richard Gutierrez’ film few years ago entitled, “The Promise,” where the two had an intense love making scene.

Adjacent to the lighthouse, you shouldn’t miss going to the viewing deck overlooking the stunning view of the immense South China Sea. Bolinao Lighthouse is also a very nice venue for engagement photo shoots and wedding photography.

Bolinao Lighthouse was one of our side trips when we traveled Pangasinan. It is a very popular tourist spot in Bolinao, Pangasinan. If you have your own vehicle, just drive straight along the stretch of Bolinao shorelines until you come across a signage that you already reached Cape Bolinao Lighthouse.

This is just another backlog post from my last year’s visit to Bohol. My co-workers and I are planning on visiting Bohol soon which finally made me blog about it.

The entrance

Being one of the tour highlights of Bohol, it is important to visit the Tarsier Conservation Area. It was drizzling when we visited the sanctuary situated in Loboc, Bohol. Even though there were lots of tourists, the place was maintained quite and tranquil, a sign that visitors were adhering to the rules. Visitors were charged a minimal admission fee of PHP60.00 and PHP 50.00 for students and senior citizens for the conservation of the area and the tarsiers. Afterwards, we were debriefed about Do’s and Dont’s while inside the Tarsier Conservation Area.

Tourist couple with a sleeping tarsier

Each group were accommodated by one tour guide to ensure that visitors were following the rules — the use of camera flash and touching the tarsiers are STRICTLY prohibited; and “silence” is strictly observed.

Since I already knew some facts about tarsiers, on our way inside, I felt that what we’re doing was wrong. Tarsiers are nocturnal mammals and sleep daylight, it came to me that visiting these endangered species at the time of the day will bother them to eventually cause them to be stressed. I really didn’t feel right.

The gap between the visitors and the tarsiers was about a meter and a half which for me was not enough. There were also some spots where tarsiers were pretty close to the visitors which was another thing that made me felt “not right.” Though I really liked the fact that each group of visitors was guided by a personnel to watch over and make sure that they are adhering to the rules.

It makes me itchy each time I look at this photo, because of the heck mosquito

The other thing I noticed about these poor little primates was that they looked thin. Prior to going to Bohol, I did some research about this endangered species and tarsiers looked plump and healthy from most photos I found on the internet. I wasn’t sure which was the right thing, thin or plump? Were feeding well? Were they stressed because of us? I couldn’t help, I felt guilty.

Whew!!

Okay enough of the guiltiness. I do believe that tarsiers are very well taken care of by local officials of Bohol. I am not complaining about how they run the conservation area, but if given the chance to be one of the officials of Bohol, I would implement a rule limiting the visiting hours from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., this will allow them to have a complete rest during the day not bothered by the visitors.

Tarsiers natural habitat is the wild and do not do well in captivity, so as much as possible, provide them an environment that feels like a wild and prevent some to “commit suicide.” They are very cute and cuddly yet very fragile, the goal must be both conserve and preserve.

Mica of Senyorita.net

Spotted a cute youngster

Tarsier Conservation Area

Location: Upper Bonbon in Loboc, Bohol, Philippines
Tour to the Tarsier Conservation Area is best availed by group from a rented van.